Intelligence and Policing

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02/09/22

Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future

6th Edition

Chapter 13 Latin America and South America

Learning Outcomes (1 of 2)

13.1 Describe how death squads have been employed to control peasant revolutions in both historical and modern day Central America

13.2 Summarize how land seizures in rural regions led to the rise of terrorist groups

13.3 Explain the nature and importance of the drug trade in fueling terrorist activity in Central America

13.4 Explain how the gang problems in Central and Latin America affect the United States

Learning Outcomes (2 of 2)

13.5 Describe how FARC and other Marxist groups have been countered by the Colombian government

13.6 Explain why international terrorists may find a safe haven in Colombia to plan attacks elsewhere

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Figure 13.1

Map of Mexico

13.1 Describe how death squads have been employed to control peasant revolutions in both historical and modern day Central America

➢ Death squads have been part of Central America's political scene for many decades

➢ Prevalent in numerous Latin American states ➢Mexico

➢Guatemala

➢Colombia

➢El Salvador

13.1 Mexico

➢ Government land seizures – Mexico power bases – military and Catholic church

– General Santa Ana and General Diaz

– Vast land grabs – national railway network

➢ Zapatistas - Emiliano Zapata – Hero of the peasantry – death - 1919

– Fight for the rights of displaced peasants and farmers

– Fought for restoration of confiscated lands

➢ Zapatista National Liberation Army

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13.1 Zapatista National Liberation Army (ELZN)

➢ 1994 - Violent uprising – Chiapas region

– Cessation of land distribution program

– North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

– Army sent to region – failure

➢ Extreme Right-wing Peace and Justice movement

– Continued where Mexican army failed

– Targets - villages and ELZN

– Army and police – blind eye to atrocities

13.1 “Peace and Justice”

State Sponsored Terror?

➢ Claims to support the Mexican government

➢ Tacit support – police and military

➢ Publicly visible death squad

➢ Murders, beatings and evacuations of villages

➢ Fear in local indigenous population

➢ Exerts considerable influence over Mayan Indians in the Chiapas region

Figure 13.2

Map of Guatemala

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13.1 Guatemala Death Squads (1 of 3)

➢ U.S. “assists” in overthrow of Communist regime ➢1954 – extreme right wing military governments

➢Failure to make any reforms

➢Military repression – rise of Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) and Guatemalan National Unity (URNG)

➢ Death Squads ➢Security police – torture and murder

➢Campaign of state terror

➢Military government desperate to hold onto power

➢1996 – peace deal

13.1 Guatemalan Death Squads (2 of 3)

➢ The Bishop of Guatemala – Coordinator Archbishops Human Rights Office

– Peace deal – did little to eradicate violence

– 1998 report “Guatemala Never Again”

– Detailed human rights abuses by military

– Two days after report released – beaten to death at his home

– Death squads have operated for thirty-six years with impunity

13.1 Guatemalan Death Squads (3 of 3)

Impunity

➢ In sixteen years to 1990 – One hundred thousand dead

– Forty thousand ‘disappeared’

Impunity – “Freedom from accountability for criminal wrongdoing”

– Government simply denies any involvement of state sponsoring of violence

– Government portrays thin veneer of ‘democracy’

– Government has little control over powerful military

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Figure 13.4

Map of El Salvador

13.1 El Salvador

➢ Land reforms ➢Demands date back over seventy years

➢Coffee production and export dependent economy

➢1930’s – military rule – General Martinez

➢Augustin Farabundo Marti – opposition

➢Executed by General Martinez

➢Military killing spree – peasants and ‘subversives’

➢1981 – twelve thousand five hundred deaths

➢ Two specific death squads ➢One covert the other overt - ORDEN

Figure 13.7

Map of Columbia

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13.1 Colombia

➢ Decades of violence – Drugs, kidnapping, extrajudicial executions

– Drug Cartels

– Rise of Marxist inspired FARC

➢ 1960-1970’s – Right-wing death squads – Target FARC

– Target FARC supporters and sympathisers

– Death squads and drug cartels

Figure 13.8

Map of Peru

13.1 Peru – Sendero Luminoso

➢ Peru’s Shining Path ▪ 1965 – Abimael Guzman – Chinese indoctrination

▪ Leader pro-Maoist faction Communist Party of Peru

▪ Restore historical greatness – Inca Empire

▪ Students – bulk of organization

➢ 1976 – underground movement ▪ Weapons and explosive training

▪ Merged Mao philosophy and teachings with that of Che Guevara – dangerous outcome

▪ Khmer Rouge style approach to dealing with locals

▪ Masses spread to Peru’s major cities for protection

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13.2 Summarize how land seizures in rural regions led to the rise of terrorist groups

➢ Central and Latin America – Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador

– Opposition to military rule

– Rise of left wing groups to combat land seizures

– Drug cartels in Colombia

➢ FARC and AUC, ELN – Left-wing

– Communist inspired in some cases

– International terror connections

13.2 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

➢ FARC – Originated in 1960-1970’s

– Marxist – narco-terrorists

– Over twenty thousand armed fighters

➢ FARC – Established 1964 – protect communist controlled

autonomous regions

– Wants to overthrow the Colombian (successive) governments

– Drugs – funding mechanism for terror activities

13.2 FARC attack targets

➢ Attacks ➢Government, local elected officials, police and military

➢Civilians

➢Robbery, kidnapping and extortion – funds

➢ Training and Logistics ➢Camps set up in jungle and remote regions

➢Vast centralized network – logistics, weapons, bomb making and finance

➢High unemployment – steady flow or young fighters

➢Post 9-11numbers down

➢Plan Colombia and U.S. backed support for military

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13.3 Explain the nature and importance of the drug trade in fueling terrorist activity in Central America

➢ Colombia – Drug cartels

– Terrorist activity – locals and government forces

– Arms and weapons for drugs

– FARC and Provisional IRA (Northern Ireland)

– Training and expertize in exchange for drugs

➢ Central American Gangs – Street gangs of central America

– MARA -18 and MS -13

13.3 Tri-border region

➢ Borders of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina (TBA)

➢ 1990’s presence of Hezbollah

➢ Bombings in Buenos Aires – Israeli Embassy

➢ Hamas and al Qaeda presence

➢ Region for money laundering, drug trafficking

➢ Smuggling and contraband

➢ Drug money laundering

13.4 Explain how the gang problems in Central and Latin America affect the U.S.

➢ U.S. deportations (ICE) – Community Shield ✓1990’s - return thousands of known gang members back to

Central America and Latin America

✓Mara 18 and Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) members

✓Mara 18 and MS-13 origins in major U.S. cities

✓One hundred and eighty thousand gang members

✓Control the streets – Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala

✓Out gunning local police

✓Gangs involved in theft, robbery, drugs and weapons sale and export

✓Gangs migrate back - present in thirty- eight U.S. states

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13.5 Describe how FARC and other Marxist groups have been countered by the Colombian government

➢ Fifty plus year insurgency – FARC ▪ Failed attempts by FARC to overthrow government

▪ Demands over the decades seem irrational

▪ Military campaigns to marginalize and control FARC

▪ Plan Colombia – U.S. training and logistical support

▪ Terrorism and drug trafficking – targeted

▪ Two million people displaced in Colombia due to the decades of violence

▪ 2008 - FARC founder – Manuel Marulanda dies of heart attack

▪ 2010 – FARC military head Jorge Suarez – killed in raid

▪ 2011 – FARC leader Guillermo Saenz killed

13.5 Colombian government - FARC

➢ Negotiations and peace deals – Planning began in 2014

– Original plan called for amnesty for FARC members

– FARC membership down to below eight thousand

➢ 2015 – 2016 peace agreement reached – Colombian government – rebels must admit to crimes

in exchange for no prison term

– Colombian people to decide on government action in peace agreement

– Once deal brokered other groups likely to follow suit

13.6 Explain why international terrorists may find a safe haven in Colombia to plan attacks elsewhere

Planning for attacks elsewhere (U.S.) – Location and proximity to porous borders

– Colombia – FARC and others have a vast network established over decades

– FARC maintain contacts with international groups

– Caches of weapons and explosives spread throughout FARC network

– Jungle hideouts and locations

– Drugs and drug money a significant influence

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13. Review Questions

• 1. Explain how a strong right-wing government manages to hold onto power in Guatemala.

• 2. Describe how narco-terrorism is a confusing term in the overall definition of terrorism.

• 3. List the gangs and countries they originate from that cause major issues in U.S. society.

• 4. Describe the rise and fall in popularity of the Shining Path in Peru.

• 5. Describe the goals of foreign terrorist groups that have been able to get a foothold in South America.